On March 13th, the General Office of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued a notice on soliciting opinions on the draft of the "New Pollutant Ecological Environment Monitoring Standard System" to standardize and guide the revision of the new pollutant ecological environment monitoring standards.

The standard system project table consists of six items: serial number, indicators, standard type and standard project name, reason for establishment, status, and remarks. The name of the standard project follows the Technical Guidelines for Formulating Environmental Monitoring and Analysis Method Standards (HJ 168-2020) and other regulations. The "status" refers to the current development status of the listed standard projects, including those that have been released, under research, and planned to be developed. The project table lists a total of 219 standards, including 6 technical specifications, 182 analytical method standards, and 31 standard samples. Monitoring indicators include microplastics, antibiotics, diclofenac, polychlorinated naphthalene, hexabromobiphenyl, toxaphene, organophosphates, musk N. N '- Xylene p-phenylenediamine, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, o-toluidine, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, alkylmercury, nitrobenzenes, phthalates, UV absorbers, carrageenan, organotin compounds, Declone, polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine pesticides, dioxins, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, medium chain chlorinated paraffins, short chain chlorinated paraffins, pentachlorophenols, volatile organic compounds, phenolic compounds, hexabromocyclododecane and bisphenol A, perfluorinated compounds, and chlorobenzenes, covering the main new pollutants in the control list, compliance, optimal control list, and evaluation plan.

The person in charge of relevant departments of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment stated that the standard system framework follows the existing structure and connotation of the ecological environment monitoring standard system, considers the inheritance and characteristics of the construction of the new pollutant ecological environment monitoring standard system, and combines environmental management needs to determine the framework structure of the "New Pollutant Ecological Environment Monitoring Standard System Table". The standard system project table reflects three aspects of content: first, the type of standard, mainly technical specifications, analytical method standards, and standard samples; The second is monitoring media, mainly including water quality (water and wastewater), environmental air and exhaust gas, soil and sediment, solid waste, etc; The third is monitoring indicators, mainly focusing on new pollutants included in the control list, compliance, optimal control list, and optimal evaluation plan. In addition, as new automatic and portable monitoring instruments for pollutants have not yet matured, ecological environment monitoring instruments and system technical requirements standards will not be considered for the time being.

It is reported that since 2022, "new pollutant control" has been included in the government work report for three consecutive years. However, the treatment of new pollutants in China is still in its early stages, and scientific research and technological support are relatively lagging behind. In terms of monitoring new pollutants, existing technical specifications, detection methods, and requirements can preliminarily support the pilot work of environmental investigation and monitoring of new pollutants. However, the framework of the ecological environment monitoring standard system for new pollutants is not yet clear, and the number of standards is not large and the coverage is incomplete, which still cannot effectively meet the monitoring needs of new pollutants. Li Jinghong, an academician of the CAS Member and professor of the Department of Chemistry of Tsinghua University, recently suggested that we should improve the new pollutant control technology and management system, attach importance to the construction of talent team, promote the construction of cross regional joint prevention and control and global risk assessment technology system